What do people want in their life?

At every stage of our life, what we want will be different.

In the first half of life, we typically want success, and the fruits of success - status and material things.

Things of the ego.

In the second half of life, we typically want the fruits of the spirit.

To spend our time in prayer, contemplation, or meditation.

Or in study, and developing deeper understanding.

To model right behaviors.

To become more enlightened.

To do good.

To dedicate ourselves to a higher purpose.

To move from selfishness towards selflessness.

To leave a legacy bigger than our houses and material possessions.

A legacy of love and meaning.

The fruits of the soul.

John van Hengel, a devout Catholic, took a vow of poverty in the 2nd half of his life, and decided to spend his time ministering to the needs of the poor.

One thing led to another.

You will be surprised to learn what his efforts led to…

…a very familiar part of the American 21st century giving landscape…

John van Hengel - Wikipedia

Inventor of food banks (1923–2005) John van Hengel Born ( 1923-02-21 ) February 21, 1923 Waupun, Wisconsin Died October 5, 2005 (2005-10-05) (aged 82) Phoenix, Arizona Alma mater Lawrence College Known for Father of Food Banking Children 2 Awards See honors and awards John Arnold van Hengel (February 21, 1923 – October 5, 2005) was a grassroots activist and entrepreneur credited as being the "Father of Food Banking". [ 1 ] In 1967, van Hengel founded St. Mary's Food Bank , the world's first food bank in Phoenix, Arizona . He would later go on to create Feeding America , helping to spread the food banking concept across the United States, and eventually the rest of the world. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] John van Hengel was born in Waupun, Wisconsin . Of Dutch ancestry, he was the son of a nurse and the town pharmacist. [ 1 ] He graduated from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin with a degree in Government. There, He was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. John then attended graduate school at University of Wisconsin [ 1 ] but moved to Southern California before finishing. Spending time as a self-described "first-rate beach bum", [ 6 ] van Hengel moved on to study broadcasting at UCLA . His odd jobs included driving a beer truck in Beverly Hills, [ 6 ] designing plastic rainwear, a sales manager for Bear Archery and a magazine publicist. [ 6 ] John married his wife and had two sons. [ 1 ] In 1960 his marriage ended in divorce, and he headed back to Wisconsin and went to work in a rock quarry. He became partially paralyzed while breaking up a bar fight. He was sent to Arizona for rehabilitation through the guidance of Barrows Neurological Institute. [ 2 ] John regained his strength swimming laps in a YMCA swimming pool and at the age of 44 became the oldest public lifeguard in Phoenix, Arizona. [ 4 ] [ 7 ] Start of the Food Bank journey [ edit ] John took a vow of poverty upon starting his life in Phoenix . [ 8 ] A devout Roman Catholic , John began working at Immaculate Heart Church where he drove the bus and coached sports. [ 9 ] He also began volunteering at the very busy St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen. [ 10 ] John bought an old milk delivery truck for $150 and used it to gather gleaned citrus fruit and other foods to bring to the soup kitchen. Every evening John would deliver any surplus to the homeless missions in downtown Phoenix. [ 3 ] [ 6 ] Searching for an efficient, less time consuming method of distributing this food, John approached Father Ronald Colloty from St. Mary's Basilica in regards to setting up a warehouse where the missions could come and pick up the food. [ 3 ] The church responded by loaning John $3000 and an inherited bakery building near skid row. [ 4 ] In this first year of using this building, around 250,000 pounds of food was distributed to 36 charities. [ 11 ] John expanded his food resources upon a discovery behind local grocery stores. A destitute mother of 10 well-fed children pointed out “a bank of food” from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_van_Hengel

If you write a letter to your future self, you might be surprised to read it later.

Think about this…

If John van Hengel had written a letter to his future self, when he was still a young man, and a beach bum in California, would he have been surprised to read it later?

After reading his story, you will agree with me, he would have been very surprised.

So, I will leave you with one final thought, today…

What small step can you take today, that’s in line with the fruits of the spirit?

Take that step.

You never know what it may lead to.

My letter to my future self, written a few years ago…

Minoo Jha

 · 1h

What person do you wish to become?

Wrote a letter to my future self, on my Minoo Jha Life Strategies blog. It says what I want my future self to be. Reprinting it here… Dear Future Self, Image by Pexels from Pixabay I have tilled the soil. I have planted the seeds. I have watered the saplings. I have done all the things I need to do, for you to have a good life. You now just have to keep it going. If you stick with the habits I have set, you will be in good shape. Sleep a minimum of 8 hours. Do cardio and strength training. Carve out time for healthy activities in your routine. Maintain the diet, that is right for you. The one that was right for me was a low carb diet. I dodged the diabetes bullet by doing that. Keep stress at bay. Mental health is as important as physical health. Use tools to calm yourself down when you get anxious. Take a walk, or have a shower or a massage, do some stretches, or play a game. Talk to someone on the phone. Remember, no matter what you do to prevent bad things from happening to you, you can't avoid bad things altogether. Our Younger Self didn't know how to deal with bad things. She fretted and fumed, and over reacted to each crisis. She had to say or do something, almost immediately. Whereas I have found that if you let hours (and sometimes days) go by without saying, or doing anything, things that seem bad when they happen, become something you can move on from, and forget. Meditation and having a spiritual life, has helped me tremendously in this regard. I wish I had learned to meditate earlier. Our Younger Self didn't have the benefit of meditation, or a spiritual life, unfortunately for her. Regards work, including housework, try to approach everything you do with a service heart and a servant heart. I do that regularly in my Commissions Consulting work, and outside of my Commissions Consulting work. It has won the hearts of many people in my life, including my clients. Value is another mantra you should adopt. Look to deliver value in everything you do. Now by that, I don't mean show off how clever and smart you are. I mean look to being useful to other people, and being concerned with their problems, rather than yours. Value may be as simple as lending a ear when other people have something to say, without stealing the conversation back to your concerns. Live simply, and be prudent with money. I have been wise, careful, and frugal, to ensure you will be okay. Slow and steady and restrained is the way to go. Stick with my prescription for simplicity in investing - as in life - and you will be okay. As to your free time, spend it doing the things that mean the most to you. One of my favorite things to do costs no money at all. I like to write. I currently write a blog. I also write for my Commission Administration clients. Commission Process documents, User Guides, and FRDs may not sound creative and fun, but they are extremely useful and valuable to my clients. There is a chance it will be your hobby too. Who knows where that hobby will take you. Life is full of surprises. Thanks to an old advertising friend, I was able to dip my toe back into advertising copy recently after many years. I was able to write two brochures all in the span of a few weekends. One of the clients when he saw the brochure immediately said it was brilliant. It made my heart sing to know I still had it in me. Our Younger Self has to get some of the credit. Our Younger Self wrote a Money Workshop for 4th - 6th graders. Our Younger Self completed a Toastmasters CTM. Speeches and course content could lead to new avenues. I keep a ear out for new avenues. For example, on a recent Being Freelance podcast, a freelancer mentioned he uses his Virtual Assistant to help him with some of his communications. I said….aha now there's another avenue. You should do this too. Keep a ear out for new avenues - to contribute, to make life more interesting, to make a little money, to have fun. Finally, focus on being the best human being you can be. Not the best writer, or best dresser, or best cook, or best host, or best homemaker, or best church goer…but the best human being. I am talking about patience and honesty and kindness and humility and forgiveness and understanding and being a good listener, those kinds of things. You won't get it right immediately. If something as simple as cooking rice takes several tries to get right, imagine how many more tries might be involved in becoming a more patient or a more understanding human being. Maybe a lifetime. Don't be afraid of making mistakes, or messing up. I make mistakes and mess up all the time. When I make mistakes or mess up, I get back up on my feet and keep trying. You need to keep doing that too. I sincerely believe life gets better as we get older. Lovingly, Your Past Self Acknowledgements: I would like to acknowledge 2 sources of inspiration for this post, both recently discovered, and both wonderful. The first is a website called Future Me. On Future Me, anyone can write a letter to their Future Self, and read the letter in the future. I loved the concept, and initially toyed with writing a letter to my Future Self on Future Me. Then, I decided my blog would be just as good a home for this letter, since many more people other than myself would be able to read it. The second inspiration for this Dear Future Self, post was a book called Notes To Self. Notes to Self contains 20 letters from people to their Younger Selves. Oprah, Jimmy Carter and Danica Patrick are some of the people who have written letters to their Younger Selves in Notes to Self. So being exposed to both Future Me and Notes to Self within the span of a few days is what ignited this post. How wonderfully inspiration works!

My life has already changed since writing that letter.

I am doing some meaningful, purposeful, and interesting things today, I could not have anticipated myself doing.

This includes the small step of volunteering at a local St. Vincent de Paul.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, has an interesting story in itself.

It was founded by a 20 year old college student in France.

Frederic Ozanam was moved to pursue the fruits of the spirit at a young age.

One thing led to another.

You will be surprised to hear about the size of St. Vincent de Paul today.

What is the quote?

You can count the seeds in an apple.

But you can't count the apples in a seed.

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul - Wikipedia

Christian community service organization Society of Saint Vincent de Paul Blessed Frédéric Ozanam Named after St. Vincent de Paul Founded April 23, 1833 ; 192 years ago ( 1833-04-23 ) [ 2 ] Founder Blessed Frédéric Ozanam [ 3 ] Mr. Emmanuel Bailly Focus Sanctification of members through service of the poor [ 5 ] Area served 155 countries [ 4 ] Members 800,000 [ 4 ] Superior General Fr. Bertin Sanon, R.S.V. [ 1 ] Volunteers 1.5 million [ 4 ] Website ssvpglobal.org Remarks Slogan: serviens in spe The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul ( SVP or SVdP or SSVP ) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church , founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Started by Frédéric Ozanam and Emmanuel-Joseph Bailly de Surcy and named after Vincent de Paul , the organization is part of the global Vincentian Family of Catholic organizations. Innumerable Catholic parishes have established "conferences", most of which affiliate with a diocesan council. Among its varied efforts to offer material help to the poor or needy, the Society also has thrift stores or " op shops " which sell donated goods at a low price and raise money for the poor. [ 6 ] There are a great variety of outreach programs sponsored by the local conferences and councils, addressing local needs for social services. [ 2 ] The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 to help impoverished people living in the slums of Paris, France. [ 7 ] The primary figure behind the Society's founding was Blessed Frédéric Ozanam , a French lawyer, author, and professor in the Sorbonne . Frédéric collaborated with Emmanuel Bailly, editor of the Tribune Catholique , in reviving a student organization which had been suspended during the revolutionary activity of July 1830. Ozanam was 20 years old when he founded the Society. [ 8 ] He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1997. [ 9 ] Emmanuel Bailly was chosen as the first President. The Society took Saint Vincent de Paul as its patron under the influence of Sister Rosalie Rendu , DC. Sister Rosalie, beatified in November 1999 by Pope John Paul II, was a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul , earlier known for her work with people in the slums of Paris. She guided Frédéric and his companions in their approach towards those in need. [ 10 ] Blessed Rosalie Rendu, DC SVP gradually expanded outside Paris in the mid-19th century and received benefactors in places such as Tours where figures such as the Venerable Leo Dupont , known as the Holy Man of Tours , became collaborators. [ 11 ] The Society is part of the Vincentian Family which also includes two congregations founded by St. Vincent de Paul – the Congregation of the Mission with Vincentian priests and brothers and the Ladies of Charity – along with the Sisters of Charity in the Setonian tradition and several others, including some religious groups that are part of the Anglican Communion like the Company of Mission Priests . [ 1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Saint_Vincent_de_Paul

Thankful

Thankful for the people—

those I fiercely debate,

those I gladly agree with,

those who mirror my ways,

and those who do not.

Those tuned like my own heart,

and those whose rhythms differ.

Each one a thread in the tapestry,

each one a gift.

Thankful for the people.

__

Thankful for the opportunities—

to engage, to listen, to read,

to sit with the voices of others,

to sift and shape my own values

from what I see and hear.

Each moment a doorway

to deeper understanding.

Thankful for the opportunities.

__

Thankful for the friendships—

undeserved, yet freely given,

blessings that anchor and lift me.

For the food for thought,

the companionship,

the help, the support, the solace,

the widening of my mind.

Without you, my life

would be achingly small—

so impoverished.

Thankful for the friendships.

__

Thankful for the experiences—

in work, in life, in family,

in community,

in India’s colors and the U.S.’s expanse.

Moments of annoyance,

embarrassment, and guilt;

moments of joy beyond words,

and sorrow beyond imagining.

All have shaped me,

guided me, carried me

to this very place.

Thankful for the experiences.

__

Thankful for the pauses—

Sundays and weekends,

holidays and empty days,

days of sickness,

days stuck at home,

days with nothing to do—

quiet soil in which

thoughts like these

take root and bloom.

Thankful for the pauses.

__

Thankful for this life—

for all that has entered it,

for nature’s awe,

for the bright fruits

of human creativity,

for everything I’ve learned

since the moment

I wailed into the world.

The good and the bad,

the joy and the sorrow,

the smiles and the frowns,

the climbs and the falls.

All of it a blessing.

__

Thankful for this life.

Thankful for this life.